Avon and Somerset Constabulary - Help at the end of a 'phone 24/7

Help at the end of a 'phone - 24/7

Photo gallery

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A picture of members of the Underwater Search Unit

A picture of Steve Morgan and Mac MacGregor

A picture of Mac MacGregor and Stuart Mitchell

Twenty-four hours-a-day, 365 days a week, there is always someone at the end of the 'phone in the Avon and Somerset Police Communications Department.

From reporting a life-and-death emergency on 999 to calling 101 to speak to your local PC, there's always someone available to help.

There are two 999 emergency control rooms, one at police HQ in Portishead, the other at Taunton, and the non-emergency Force Service Centre, also at Portishead.

Operators work on a shift system, working 10-hour day shifts or eight-hour night shifts on a rolling rota.

What's the difference between 999 and 101?

999 is for getting an emergency response where it is most needed as quickly as possible.

An 'emergency' is when someone is at risk of getting hurt or a crime is being committed now. If it's happening now, the number to call is 999.

All other calls should be made to 101. It is also staffed 24-hours, and is the number to call if you're not sure – they can put you through to the emergency operators within seconds if necessary.

Call 101 if you need to speak to an individual within the police service, because they can tell you whether that person is on duty and if not, suggest someone else you could speak to or take a message for them.

Call 101 to report a crime that has already happened where there's no sign of an offender.

Accessibility

Avon and Somerset police are using a number of systems to become more easily accessible to everyone in the community, including:

Online crime reporting through the website, www.avonandsomerset.police.uk or at hi-tech police 'Kiosks' in community settings across the area
Having a Typetalk text service on 18000 or 18001.
Using Language Line interpreters to talk to people whose first language is not English.

Facts and figures

Avon and Somerset police receive around 1.5 million calls a year – that's almost three calls per minute!
We answer 90 per cent within 10 seconds
More than half of all 999 calls are not for real emergencies
The average 999 call lasts for three minutes and 17 seconds
Persistent nuisance callers to 999 can have their mobile phone barred from call again after just three calls to any emergency service
Calls peak at Hallowe'en, on New Year's Eve and during the Glastonbury Festival weekend

What is it like?

Case Study 1 - Peter - Emergency Call-Handler

Case Study 2 - Sharon - Force Service Centre, Call-Handler

Case Study 3 - Carleen works as a dispatcher and emergency call-handler at HQ.

As a dispatcher, details of incidents appear on her computer screen and she must prioritise the case and send officers to the scene when they become available.

The calls are graded, with those where someone is at risk or an offender is on the scene needing an 'immediate' response.

Other calls might be assessed as a 'priority', but not needing immediate attendance.

Carleen said: "We get lots of calls which are a priority, but sometimes there are not enough units available, because they are dealing with the immediate calls. We will call people back to apologise and find out when they will next be available for an officer to call.

"People are mostly polite, but we do get lots of random calls. This can be quite stressful when it's busy, and you have to explain that it's not really a 999 call.

"We do get callers who are abusive, but sometimes that's because of the circumstances. If something's happened, we need to listen and calm them down.

"Sometimes we do have to warn people that if they carry on swearing we'll have to clear the line. I don't want to hang up on people, but we do get people calling in the early hours after clubbing who are clearly intoxicated. One caller phoned again and again and spoke to everyone in the room.

"Some callers just want someone to talk to. It's frustrating when you are dealing with a non-emergency call, and you can hear your colleagues taking call after call and it's really busy.

"The best part of the job is knowing the outcome when you take a call, when officers have gone straight away. A lot of the time people want to stay on the line until police arrive. They feel a lot calmer when you say police are on their way. Sometimes it gets stressful: people just want to shout at you and you're just trying to help them.

"At the end of a shift it can be exhausting, but it's just something that you do, your job, you don't really think about it."

Case Study 4 - Helen works as a dispatcher and emergency call-handler at HQ.

"We had one incident where police were called about a fight in a pub, and one of the officers was injured and lost consciousness.

"We worked solidly for five hours dealing with transmission after transmission. The team work was great – colleagues were putting tea and water in front of you – but we were exhausted. That was exceptional, but people don't realise we can be dealing with 15 or 20 incidents at once.

"I think about 70 per cent of the calls are not emergencies. It needs to be happening now to be a 999 call. You might have someone who is hysterical, and you need to work out where they are.

"It can be distressing: I was on the phone to a man when he jumped off the Cabot tower.

"On another occasion I had a man screaming down the phone to me and I could hear shots going off in the background.

"I have taken calls from children saying that daddy has knocked mummy out: kids get really scared when there is a fight. There were two children hiding under a bed who called me once, and you have to get the information out of them, although kids are really good.

"It's really hard when you have a child on the phone, and it's also distressing when elderly people call to report crime – they call in on 101 and apologise to trouble you.

"You can get sworn and shouted at 20 times a day. You have to learn not to take it personally. We have to stay professional because that's the best way to help people.

"The best thing about the job is when we catch an offender. The worst is the lack of respect people have for us. Everyone wants us to sort out everything for them."